help needed depression/zonegran/ lamictal
 

If anybody is out there, could you please try and help me out here. I am on lamictal 400mg and zonegran200mg. am suppost to be on 500mg lamictal just can't handle it. Anybody get really depressed on this stuff? The few hours I do sleep bad bad dreams. Horrible thoughts all day. grinding my teeth all day & night. Could really use a shoulder here.
thanks

Hi Hadleybay,

I've taken both of these AED's (anti epileptic drugs) and neither of them helped me. I've had epilespy for 38 yrs. and tried many AED's but after a DNA test I found out that I was drug resistant. Lamictal caused me to break out with a rash and zonegran didn't help my sz. at all.
When it comes to depressed feeling a lot of that has to do with the epilepsy itself not to mention the AED a person takes. I've found that taking vitamin B12 1000 mcg. once a day along with eating nuts of any kind has reduced my sz. and I'm now taking fewer AED's. Also take note of what the weather is like when you are feeling depressed. They have found that sometimes winter weather and less sunlight or bright light causes depression as well as seizures for some people. I know each yr. around fall and winter I have many more sz. and my Epileptologist told me it's do to less seriton this time of year. Try to keep yourself active so you have less time on your hands to think or feel depressed. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

I take Lamictal & it controls my tonic clonics. I was taking 200mg in the morn for a long time. Plus other meds. Then I started taking 50mg more when I took the 200mg because I still had CPs. It caused diplopia (double vision) so I went to 200mg in morn then 50mg in afternoon plus I still took 200mg at night (then added another 50mg).

I take Zonegran & Lamictal as well for tonic clonic seizures. I am 24 years old and the seizures are pretty well controlled. I enjoy these medications because I have not gained weight as I have with other meds....BUT...My doctor has recently tried increasing dosage on my Zonegran, saying I will adjust to the medication. I can't think or come up with simple words I need to say in conversations. I also have very realistic dreams which are pretty frightening and I think about the dreams the rest of the day. Another weird thing-I have strange flashbacks from my childhood at random times throughout the day.
Sometimes I can't tell if I am losing my memory because of a few seizures, or if the medications are doing this. Probably both...
The depression has kicked in on these meds with this dosage just because I do not feel like myself and I cannot express myself to others. That is my experience with these meds. The only thing anyone can do is talk to their physician and hope there are other options.
-J

There Are Other Options !!
 

There are other options, you just have to educate yourself and find out which are the therapies that can work for you to improve --- from aromatherapy, nutrition, massage therapy, biofeedback, herbal/homeopathic remedies, body-talk, yoga, neurofeedback, to cognitive behavior therapy. A combination of these techniques will have your seizures reduce so much you will then want also to reduce the medicines that have caused other health concerns such as dyplopia, depression, arthritis, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, etc.